Dartmouth Chooses Michigan Provost As New President

11/29/12 4:04PM
Chris Fleisher Valley News

Dartmouth College has hired an
alumnus who built his career as a professor and provost at a major
university to succeed Jim Yong Kim as the school's president.

Philip Hanlon, a 1977 Dartmouth graduate and the
current provost at the University of Michigan, will take office on July
1 as the college's 18th president, the college announced this
afternoon.

Hanlon will visit the Dartmouth campus tomorrow
to meet with interim president Carol Folt and other school officials,
said Dartmouth spokesman Justin Anderson.

In an interview, Hanlon said he was eager to
return to the school that played such an important role in shaping his
life and academic career.

"It's had a profound impact on who I am and what
path I've taken," Hanlon said by telephone this morning. "So, to be at
the helm of Dartmouth College, especially at this moment when there's so
much challenge and opportunity in higher education, this is really a
thrill."

Hanlon, 57, is a mathematician who has held a number of positions
at the University of Michigan since he was first hired as an associate
professor in 1986. He eventually became the college's associate dean for
planning and finance in 2001 and later rose to vice provost for
academic and budgetary affairs in 2007, becoming the provost and
executive vice president for academic affairs in 2010.

He brings to Dartmouth particular experience in dealing with fiscal constraints in higher education.

State funding for the University of Michigan was
cut by $166 million over the past decade, and Hanlon said he played a
central role in helping the university adjust and flourish in that time.
It is among the greatest strengths that he brings to Dartmouth, he
said.

"I think it's an area where I have a great deal
of depth and experience," he said. "I do agree that affordability and
access is absolutely crucial to any great college or university right
now, and it's something we need to work on at Dartmouth."

The search for Dartmouth's 18th president took
slightly less time than the one to find Hanlon's predecessor, who left
Dartmouth after just three years on campus to become president of the
World Bank. Today's announcement comes just four months after the search
criteria were released. Kim, meanwhile, was hired five months after the
criteria that led to his hiring were finalized.

Hanlon was on the list of candidates from early
on, said Bill Helman, a college trustee and chairman of the search
committee. The decision to hire Hanlon "was easy," Helman said, because
of Hanlon's commitment to liberal arts education and experience with
high profile graduate schools.

Hanlon's ties to Dartmouth also figured prominently in the decision, Helman said.

"It's a very unique place," Helman said. "Philip
Hanlon, who is at Michigan, one of the pre-eminent universities in the
world, to have the advantage of an undergraduate liberal arts experience
at Dartmouth ... it creates pretty unique blend, a pretty unique set of
experiences in our guy. So, yeah, I think it's important."

Diana Taylor, the vice chairwoman of the search
committee, graduated with Hanlon in 1977. In the statement announcing
Hanlon's hiring, Taylor said Hanlon's deep connection with Dartmouth was
among the attributes that stood out.

"He impressed everyone on the search committee
not only with his passion for Dartmouth, and for undergraduate learning,
but also with the sharpness of his vision for how to ensure that
Dartmouth can excel in an age of unprecedented challenge and opportunity
for higher education," she said. "I could not be more proud that a
member of the great Class of 1977 will be leading our alma mater."